PAS desperately needs every party level to collectively pay Siti Mastura’s RM825k legal damages

 

PAS will collectively bear the RM825,000 legal damages inflicted on its Kepala Batas MP Dr Siti Mastura Muhammad after the latter lost her defamation suit to DAP’s powerful trio of Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng and Teresa Kok.

In an appeal for funds issued yesterday (Dec 22), the party’s leadership stated that the three plaintiffs had in a letter dated Dec 11 issued through Messrs SN Nair & Partner sought to execute the payment order of RM825,000 at a soonest possible date on the defendant (Siti Mastura).

“Failure of the defendant to settle the above legal damages can lead to a bankruptcy proceeding following which the Kepala Batas MP can lose her qualification and that she has to vacate her parliamentary seat for a by-election to take place,” read the internally circulated memo.

“After a thorough deliberation, the PAS leadership has decided that every party level will bear collective responsibility to settle the legal damages.”

The memo signed by the Islamist party’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan further justified that Siti Mastura who had been accused of making the defamatory remarks had done so “to fulfil her obligation towards the party and its struggle” as part of the Nov 4, 2023 Kemaman parliamentary by-election campaign.

So as to prevent the first-term PAS lawmaker from getting forfeited, Takiyuddin who is also the Kota Bahru MP said PAS has therefore launched a “Jihad Fundraising” with the following minimum rates:

• PAS central working committee members/commissioners: RM500 each
• Central/state/division party wings: RM20,000/wing
• State/FT PAS Relations Body: RM20,000/body
• PAS division/branch: RM500/branch

According to the internal memo, proceeds can be made in the form of crossed cheques or direct bank transfer to the following bank account:

• Account name: PARTI ISLAM SEMALAYSIA (PAS)
• Account No.: 5640-7070-5537 (Maybank)
• Resit reference: Sumbangan Kepala Batas (Contribution for Kepala Batas)

Recall that Siti Mastura who holds a doctorate from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) was slapped with the RM825,000 legal damages for having made unfounded claims linking DAP’s retired supremo Kit Siang, the party’s chairman Guan Eng and its vice-chairman Kok who is also the Seputeh MP to the late Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng.

According to the DAP leaders’ counsel Sankara Nair, judge Datuk Quay Chew Soon ordered Siti Mastura to pay a total of RM750,000 in damages with a breakdown of RM300,000 to Kit Siang, Guan Eng (RM250,000) and Kok (RM200,000).

The judge further imposed a 5% annual interest if the deputy head of the Penang State PAS Muslim Council failed to pay her dues in addition to ordering her to pay costs of RM25,000 each to the three DAP leaders. – Focus Malaysia